Nothing the Republicans have done in North Carolina is quite as disturbing as watching their handling of the University of North Carolina system. They stacked the Board of Governors with ideologues and put an obviously incompetent lawyer in charge of it. They’ve fired a leader that even they admit was doing a good job and now can’t even oversee the process of replacing him.
According to a News & Observer report, the search for a new president is rife with infighting and interference. Board members have been kept in the dark about the process and one member resigned his position on the public affairs committee in a dispute with the head of the search committee. When the UNC system’s Faculty Assembly asked to meet with finalists, UNC Board Chair John Fennebresque unceremoniously dismissed their request. Really, what would faculty need to know about the leader of a university system?
Now, the Authoritarians want to weigh in. Apparently, there are bills drafted in the legislature that would allow the General Assembly to take over the process. None of them have been introduced, but at least one would give the legislature final say over who takes the reins at UNC. Reading between the lines, it seems clear that some GOP legislators want to enforce strict conservative doctrine on the next UNC president.
Senate enforcer and Rules Chair, Tom Apodaca indicated that he’s the firewall stopping more meddling in the process. “I don’t think there’s a bigger university supporter in Raleigh than me and I’ve had to fight like hell to protect the university budget over the last five years,” he said. “There have been some aggressive legislative proposals to interject the legislature into running the university system.” Well, there are certainly bigger supporters in Raleigh, just not in the Republican caucus where skepticism of public education runs high. But of course there’s a pretty strong contingent of GOP legislators who are skeptical of evolution, climate change and the moon landing.
It’s clearly a mess and doesn’t bode well for finding a strong leader for UNC. Who would take a job that is overseen by a board run by a guy like John Fennebresque and that will almost certainly face meddling from a group of legislators who aren’t totally convinced that the earth is round? Just another day on the GOP road to mediocrity.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Well. maybe because, as some liberals have suggested, “North Carolina public universities cannot be runned (sic) like business …,” But the larger point is that despite cries that the General Assembly is “Taking UNC down the road to mediocrity,” university salaries belie that claim.
And the reported salary of $775,000 for the new president, which was apparently offered by the conservative dominated Board of Governors, seems to this conservative to be extremely extravagant.
Unlike most State of NC employee hirings, and especially in the case of NC appointed political patronage positions, searches and hirings at universities are conducted via and within a nationwide competitive marketplace. In effect, schools in the UNC system compete against 4000 other American higher ed institutions in making many faculty, leadership and management choices (as opposed to competing against…well…no other entity, or at best, among a limited number of in-state/internal candidates just within NC). And to do that effectively, and keep UNC on a high rung of academe, it must meet or exceed salary offers for talent made by competing schools.
The UNC System is still a well respected and leading academic system (for a few more years anyway) which means it has effectively prioritized and allocated its fiscal resources so as to compete for the best and brightest for its faculty and management positions.
How come the virtues of the marketplace, free enterprise, and open competition are preached in virtually every other contexts by many conservatives except when it comes to hiring our university system’s president and its upper level campus leaders?
Let’s acknowledge the fact that most UNC BOG members are NOT qualified to run the university system. Attorneys and business people do NOT have the expertise to provide guidance and support to a higher education system beyond their personal and professional experiences. They do not understand the approaches to leadership and organizational success used by those in the public sector as opposed to the private sector. North Carolina public universities cannot be runned like businesses or by lawyers who apparently need a refresher course in ethics. They know absolutely nothing about issues embraced by the AAUP, pedagogy, academic freedom, student issues, etc. The legislature SHOULD pass a bill containing specfic educational and employment requirements/qualifications for persons interested in serving on the UNC BOG. Would a person without a law degree who donates money to the North Carolina State Bar be allowed to serve on NC Board of Law Examiners? Even the 13-member Judicial Standards Commission consists of 7 judges, 4 attorneys and 4 citizen members. The composition of the UNC BOG is yet another example that education is not a top priority in North Carolina. Furthermore, UNC BOG membership should be limited to two, two year terms with the option of removal for misconduct and incompetency.
So the University system should be run by –well by university types? I guess that helps explain the generous salary levels for university administrators. In addition to the huge salaries paid top campus officials, 68 employees in General Administration make over $100,000 annually, while eight pull down salaries of over $200,000. And of the 47,894 employees within the 16 campus UNC system, 1039 earn more than $200,000 a year and 6243 earn over $100,000.
Compare that to the rest of state government, where among 87,364 employees, only 56 enjoy an annual salary of over $200k and 1900 earn over $100k annually.
A few examples reveal even more extravagance. The salary for a Chief Diversity Officer at UNCCH is $195,000, 38 percent more than the Governor’s. A Book Store Manager at another UNC campus draws an annual salary of $140,448 while an Art Museum Director at yet another campus makes $124,395.
Overall, state appropriations account for around 43 percent of the UNC system’s total revenues, substantially higher than the national average of 28 percent. This, of course, means lower tuition at UNC campuses than in many other states’ universities.
With friends like Apodaca, who needs enemies?
All the “M” signs —-meddling, messiness, and micro-management—- are there for all North Carolinians, and unfortunately also all the better president candidates, to see.
The GOP-appointed board fired a damn good president, and are now befuddled and disorganized in carrying out an objective search for a replacement.
And the draft bills in the NCGA may shed more light on Ross’ termination. Those bills would interject the General Assembly into a process and hiring that always—and for good reason—was allowed to proceed without petty politics and legislative dictates getting in the way. IMO, the GOP-led NCGA wanting final say-so over the hiring suggests that they gave the Board its marching orders to let Ross go, and have a few “someones” in mind for the job.
Lance Armstrong did not land on the flat moon.
Did you mean Neil Armstrong? Or did you mean that Lance rode his bike to the moon but didn’t land? Or something? 😉